GENMEDOC an inter-regional network of mediterranean seed banks

"in situ" conservation

In a perfect world, all organisms should live and be protected within their natural habitat, according to a conservation policy that is commonly known as "Conservation in situ" and is based on the creation of protected areas such as national parks, natural parks, nature reserves, wetlands, Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and other types of areas.

Where threatened species are concerned, the “in situ” actions anticipate the conservation of viable populations in areas that have to be extensive enough in order to ensure the survival of a number of individuals sufficient to represent the genetic variability of the population. For the conservation of this variability, which allows the species to be adapted to environmental changes, the extent of such conservation areas should be calculated according to the demographic density and the biological characteristics of the species in nature.


The survival of species and ecosystems, in the long term, depends on their liberty to grow and develop under natural conditions. Photo: exemples of protected areas (left) arborescent matorral with Juniperus spp. and calcareous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation. (© 2005 Gianni Bacchetta - CCB).

However, when the protected areas are surrounded by territories inappropriate to wildlife, such as territories with intensive human activities and highly populated areas, then these areas are comparable to “islands” and, consequently, they are vulnerable. In order to minimise the side effects of habitat fragmentation, and thanks to the knowledge obtained in recent years as regards conservation ecology and biology, the actions of in situ conservation have been oriented towards a more detailed and complex organisation of the areas to be protected. Hence, the first ecological networks have appeared, a kind of a node system with ecological corridors, buffer zones and environmental areas of reclassification, which connect the protected areas to each other in such a way that the survival of the biological communities and ecological processes is guaranteed.



Left : schematic example of an «ecological network»; map of the ecological networks in the Netherlands (Source:.http://www.planeco.org).

In Europe, where such concepts usually spread rapidly through the land planning policies, the first continental network for in situ conservation, that of “Natura 2000”, has been created as a result of the European Directive 92/43/CEE, known as the “ Habitats Directive”.